FlyBe Flight 4447 declares emergency after take-off from Doncaster

PUBLISHED Tue, May 30, 2017 - 3:07pm EDT

Credit: FlightRadar24

FlyBe Flight 4447 (BE4447) declared an emergency shortly after taking off from Doncaster Sheffield Airport in England for a flight to Faro in Portugal, officials say. The aircraft was diverted and has now landed safely. (more)

Flight 4447, which is operated by an Embraer ERJ-195LR aircraft, took off from Doncaster Sheffield Airport at 7:12 p.m. on Tuesday. It declared an in-flight emergency about 15 minutes later, just after 7:30 p.m.

"BE4447 has been diverted to Birmingham due to both Captain sickness and technical issues," an airline representative said in response to an inquiry. She provided no further information about the captain's illness or the nature of the technical problems.

Although the representative said the flight had been diverted to Birmingham, data from FlightRadar24 showed that the aircraft was actually diverted to East Midlands Airport, where it landed safely just after 8 p.m.

We have reached out to an airline spokesman who said he would provide further information soon.

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